Staff Correspondent

The Ministry of Education has announced the formation of a high-level expert committee to design an independent institutional framework equivalent to a university for the seven government colleges currently affiliated with Dhaka University, or DU.

The four-member committee will be led by the chairman of the University Grants Commission, or UGC, with members including an additional secretary from the Secondary and Higher Education Department, Dhaka University's pro-vice-chancellor, and UGC member Prof Tanzimuddin Khan.

The committee has been tasked with submitting its recommendations within the next four months.
On Sunday, Md Shahinur Islam, deputy secretary of the govt college branch of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education Department, told bdnews24.com: "This high-level expert committee will formulate a framework for an independent institutional structure equivalent to a university for seven government colleges."

The order to form the committee states that the UGC will be entrusted with the secretarial responsibility of this committee. Moreover, experts with administrative experience in higher education can be added as members to the committee as needed.

The colleges—Dhaka College, Eden Women’s College, Government Shahid Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Women’s College, Mirpur Government Bangla College, and Government Titumir College—were granted Dhaka University affiliation in 2017.

The move placed these institutions under the university’s purview for admission tests, curricula, and examinations.

After the interim government came into power, the students of the seven colleges launched protests to break away from their affiliation with DU.

They pushed to establish independent universities as they argue that the affiliation has deprived the colleges of an independent institutional identity, creating administrative bottlenecks and hampering their academic progress.

Later, the Ministry of Education formed a committee to examine the students' demands. But the students announced that they would continue their movement.

On Nov 6, the ongoing student movement was suspended temporarily amid assurances from Wahiduddin Mahmud, the education advisor.

Students also protested by blocking the roads and railways in Dhaka’s Mohakhali, demanding the conversion of the government-run Titumir College into a university.

At that time, the education advisor said that plans were underway to give the colleges a separate institutional form.

“We are going to form an expert committee very soon. Once these colleges get a unified institutional form, we will discuss with all of you [students] how to further encourage the colleges, how to further increase their facilities, infrastructure, how to give them a unified institutional form – and make decisions.”

COMMITTEE'S DUTIES

• To review the opinions and information collected by the committee formed by the Ministry of Education on Oct 24, 2024, on the problems arising from the affiliation of the seven colleges to Dhaka University in 2017

• To consider the procedural options for cancelling the affiliation of seven colleges to Dhaka University and transforming them into an institutional structure equivalent to a university while maintaining the independent entity of the colleges

• To formulate the necessary draft statutes for the institutional structure

• To consider the improvement of the quality of education from HSC to Masters as the main goal, as recommended by the committee

The order also states that the committee will maintain contact with higher authorities of the government regarding its activities and will involve student-teacher representatives and other stakeholders.